I’ll be honest: I never got an iPhone because I wanted to make phone calls with it. The device is more like a compact toolbox that I can use for looking up words, messaging people on Facebook, reading articles, listening to music, and jotting down notes. I’ve had my iPhone for nearly a year now, and everything has worked flawlessly. Its physical design is beautiful, the interface is simple and intuitive, the performance is smooth, and the App Store is full of gems. So today, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite apps that I frequently use.

Dictionary.com. Free English-English dictionary and thesaurus with more than 275,000 definitions. Works offline. An Internet connection is needed for the audio pronunciation guide. Other dictionary apps cost a fortune.

Skype. Mobile Skype. If your phone plan includes unlimited Internet access, this app can save you a lot of money. Convince your family and friends to buy a smartphone with Skype support (an iPhone, that is) and you will never have to worry about phone bills again.

Facebook. Stay in touch with friends on the go. An app like this could be a potential replacement for SMS. But doesn’t this mean that you will be (even more) addicted to Facebook? Not necessarily. It’s a phone after all, for connecting with people, so why not maximize your connections? You have the freedom to turn it off when it’s not needed.

Evernote. When you want to copy the local bus timetable, grab your iPhone and take a photo of it and let Evernote analyze its contents. Evernote’s text recognition technology allows you to store data without ever having to type the information yourself.

Photoshop Express. Adobe’s photo editing app for the iPhone. This is all you need for keeping your mobile album optimized.

Instapaper. Transform an online article into a neat electronic document for later reading. The free version is limited to 10 documents, but I’ve personally never had the need to pay for additional slots.

iTranslate. Google Translate on your iPhone. You might as well use the iPhone-optimized service in a browser, but iTranslate somehow feels snappier and more comfortable to use.

Which are your favorite apps for the iPhone? Share them in the comments below!